Three extensions to the service department, three voice mails. Booking an appointment to purchase winter tires and rims, a $1400 touch before taxes, and I have to leave a message? After speaking with a couple of friends, they echoed the experience in varying degrees. And after speaking with colleagues, they honestly didn’t think there was a real problem.

Training and coaching in the automotive service industry have focused on new ways to contact and communicate with the customer. But is the old standard, the telephone, falling to the wayside?

Some Context

Someone I know recently purchased a new vehicle and had a fantastic sales experience, albeit without a service introduction at delivery. Now they need winter tires for their new vehicle and asked me to help source them and make the appointment. The parts department was very helpful, pricing out the set of tires and rims and including the installation costs as well. And then I was transferred to a service advisor’s line to book the appointment.

No answer. After five rings, voice mail. Thinking, “They must be busy, I’ll try again in a minute,” I called back shortly. Same thing. That’s a little annoying. And once more, about a half-hour later yet. Finally, I left a message around 8:30 am.

When I still hadn’t heard anything by 11 am, I called once more. This time, after holding for the receptionist for about two minutes, a service advisor FINALLY picked up. The appointment was hastily booked like an order-taker, and it was over in less than a minute.

Here’s the cherry on top: around 1 pm, assumedly when she returned from her lunch hour, I received a call back from my earlier voice mail message. Yes, more than four hours later.

I’m betting I’m not the only one who sees a problem here.

Standards in Dealing with Phone Calls

I know that this type of response to service phone calls isn’t the norm, but it’s prevalent enough that two friends I spoke with had similar experiences at other dealers within the past year or so. It’s just not good business. When customers don’t think you’re trying to serve them or you’re too busy, they’re not going to wait for you. They’ll go elsewhere. Chris Riley, owner of AutoWise.com, reports that shoppers who don’t receive a response to an inquiry within 10 minutes will continue searching for another service provider.

• Phone calls should always be answered within two rings if at all humanly possible. That means an idle shuttle driver or service tech should be able to pick up the phone and ask the caller to hold at a bare minimum. Ideally, it would be the service advisor, service cashier, warranty administrator, or service management that would take the initiative.
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• Every caller should feel like they’re getting your full attention as if they were a customer in person. Don’t rush them off the call or accept interruptions. Demonstrate that you value their business.
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• Return phone messages in a timely manner. While that’s up for interpretation, it isn’t acceptable to return a call more than four hours later, or even two hours. What if that caller’s vehicle was in the shop, or it was a response to a quote you’ve given a customer? You’ve just delayed their repair by half a day. Strive for less than 30-minute callbacks.
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• Hold times in all departments should be under a minute. Affiliated Communications says that customers start to get angry after holding for 60 seconds, and every additional second affects their opinion of your store.

Service managers, you know your service advisors are busy. But if you’re going to improve your retention rate, phone calls are a great place to start. Audit your team as they answer calls to see how they’re doing. Encourage them to maintain strong phone call skills by reminding them of why it’s so important.